10 Essential Tips for Surviving Major Flight Disruptions

Somewhere around hour 70 of what was supposed to be a 13-hour journey home from Europe, the whole situation started to become almost funny.

Almost.

My trip from Amsterdam to Nashville ultimately took about 80 hours. A mechanical problem, weather interruption, unexpected diversion, baggage delay and missed connection combined to turn a relatively straightforward trip home into four days of travel chaos.

An 80-Hour Ordeal

It started when my already rebooked flight experienced a mechanical problem while we were preparing to depart Amsterdam. We returned to the gate and I ended up spending another night in the Netherlands.

The next day, my replacement flight was delayed before finally taking off for Newark. Except we didn’t make it to Newark. Weather forced us to divert to Bangor, Maine, where we spent the night.

By then, hotel rooms in the area were difficult to come by. Those of us who couldn’t get rooms were given cots in an airport transit lounge. There were no pillows or blankets and, although we were allowed through passport control, we couldn’t access our checked luggage.

Eventually, we made it out of Bangor and on to Newark. Then a baggage delay caused me to miss the final flight of the night to Nashville. That meant one more unexpected hotel stay before I finally boarded a flight home the next day.

I don’t recommend spending 80 hours traveling from Amsterdam to Nashville. But the experience taught me quite a bit about what actually matters when a trip goes completely off the rails.

Here are 10 things I’ll keep in mind the next time travel plans fall apart.

1. Accept That Your Old Plans Are Gone

You may have heard of “burnt toast theory”: the idea that something as simple as burning your toast in the morning might delay you just enough to change what happens next.

I try to remember that idea when travel plans fall apart.

Once a flight is canceled, diverted or significantly delayed, there comes a point when mentally fighting to get the original itinerary back is no longer helpful. You were supposed to be home tonight. You were supposed to make that connection. You weren’t supposed to spend the night in Maine.

But those plans are gone.

The useful question becomes: What is the best thing I can do with the situation I have now?

There were even some silver linings during my 80-hour journey. I had an interesting conversation with a Dutch passenger sitting next to me and learned more about the Netherlands. I met other stranded travelers. An unplanned night in Newark even gave me an excuse to explore a little of its food scene.

Would I have chosen any of this? Absolutely not.

But once you can’t change the disruption, looking for whatever good might exist inside it makes the experience much easier to tolerate.

2. Pack Your Carry-On Like You Might Be Stranded

This may be the biggest lesson I took away from the entire experience.

Don’t pack your carry-on assuming your checked luggage will always be available when you need it. Pack it as though that suitcase could become inaccessible for the next 24 to 48 hours.

When we were stranded in Bangor, our checked bags weren’t available to us. That meant whatever we had carried onto the plane was all we had for the night.

I was extremely thankful I had packed an extra pair of pants, clean underwear, a small travel pillow, my toothbrush, toothpaste and basic toiletries.

There were also a few things I desperately wished I had. After spending the night on a cot without a blanket or real pillow, my future stranded-traveler kit will probably include:

• A complete change of clothes
• Extra underwear
• Toothbrush and basic toiletries
• Any essential medications
• A power bank and charging cables
• An eye mask
• A small travel pillow
• A warm layer
• A lightweight travel blanket or oversized scarf
• A few shelf-stable snacks

You probably won’t need all of it. But travel disruptions have a way of exposing exactly which things you assumed would always be available.

3. Keep Your Phone Charged

During normal travel, a dead phone is annoying. During a major travel disruption, it can become a serious problem.

Your phone may suddenly be your boarding pass, hotel-search tool, airline communication center, map, payment method, translator and connection to family all at once.

When hundreds of passengers were unexpectedly diverted to the smaller Bangor airport, available outlets suddenly became valuable real estate. Don’t count on finding one.

A fully charged power bank belongs in your carry-on, especially when you’re traveling internationally. I also start looking for charging opportunities long before my phone reaches a critically low battery. If I’m sitting near an outlet during a delay, I’m charging.

When you don’t know where you’re going to be sleeping that night, 15% battery feels very different than it does at home.

4. Know Your Passenger Rights and Document Everything

Travel disruptions put you into a strange kind of survival mode. You don’t know when you’re leaving. You don’t know where you’ll sleep. You may be trying to find food, retrieve luggage, contact family and figure out a new itinerary at the same time.

Passenger rights probably aren’t the first thing on your mind. They should at least be somewhere on the list.

For flights covered by European Union passenger protections, travelers experiencing certain cancellations and long delays may qualify for compensation of up to €600 depending on factors including the length of the delay, flight distance and what caused the disruption. Extraordinary circumstances, such as severe weather, can eliminate the right to monetary compensation, while many routine technical problems are generally treated differently.

There is also an important distinction between compensation and an airline’s duty of care. Under EU rules, passengers can have rights to things like reasonable meals, refreshments and overnight accommodation during qualifying disruptions even when the circumstances don’t qualify for monetary compensation.

U.S. protections work differently. The Department of Transportation maintains a list showing what major U.S. airlines commit to providing during cancellations and delays within the airline’s control, including circumstances such as maintenance, crew problems and baggage loading. Depending on the airline and circumstances, those commitments can include meals, hotels, ground transportation or rebooking.

You don’t have to figure out every claim while you’re standing in the airport. What you should do is document everything.

Save your boarding passes. Screenshot cancellation and delay notices. Keep emails and text messages. Save hotel and transportation paperwork. Photograph vouchers. Keep receipts for meals and other reasonable expenses.

Once you’re finally home and rested, you can figure out what you’re entitled to and submit any appropriate claims.

5. Sleep When You Can

When an airline tells you it’s putting you up in a hotel, it can sound like the worst part of the disruption is over. Not necessarily.

Moving hundreds of disrupted passengers takes time. There may be lines for rebooking, lines for hotel vouchers, transportation to the hotel and another early trip back to the airport the next morning.

If you finally get into a hotel room, don’t assume you’ll get another comfortable opportunity to sleep soon. Charge your devices. Set your alarms. Do whatever absolutely needs to be done. Then go to sleep.

During my ordeal, one unexpected overnight involved a hotel. Another involved a cot in an airport transit lounge without a blanket.

I appreciated the hotel bed considerably more in hindsight.

6. Make a Friend

This may be the least conventional piece of travel-disruption advice I can give, but it was one of the most helpful.

When we were stuck in Bangor, I teamed up with another solo female traveler who was also trying to figure out where we were going to sleep.

Suddenly, I wasn’t solving every problem by myself.

One person could watch the bags while the other talked to someone. We could compare information. We could look for hotel rooms together. Most importantly, there was another person standing beside me who understood exactly how ridiculous the situation had become.

Major travel disruptions create instant little communities. Everyone on that canceled or diverted flight suddenly has roughly the same problem.

Help your fellow travelers when you can. More often than not, someone will help you too. And who knows? You might even make a new friend.

7. If You Have Dietary Restrictions, Speak Up

Flight disruptions can be particularly difficult for anyone with dietary restrictions.

If you’ve preordered a special meal for a long-haul flight and you’re suddenly moved to another flight, don’t assume that meal will follow you. As a vegan traveler, I’ve had this happen more than once.

Gate agents and customer service representatives may be able to help, so ask. But I’ve also been told that there simply wasn’t enough time to get my requested meal onto the replacement flight.

At that point, you have to deal with the situation you have. This is another reason I now think a few emergency snacks belong in a carry-on.

During a significant disruption, also ask the airline what meal assistance it is providing. If you have to purchase your own food, keep the receipts. Under EU passenger protections, airlines may be required to reimburse necessary, reasonable meal expenses when required assistance isn’t provided. In the United States, what an airline provides depends more heavily on the airline’s commitments and the cause of the disruption.

Dietary restrictions don’t disappear because a flight was canceled. Sometimes you have to be a little more proactive about making sure you’re actually able to eat.

8. Use Every Travel Delay Benefit Available to You

Travel disruptions are one of the reasons I buy travel insurance.

In my case, the airlines ultimately covered my hotel stays and provided meal assistance during much of the disruption. But knowing I had travel insurance as a backup gave me some peace of mind while I was trying to figure out what would happen next.

Don’t stop at travel insurance, though. Depending on how you booked your trip, you may have several layers of protection available. Check your airline’s policies, your travel insurance coverage and any trip-delay or interruption benefits offered by the credit card you used to book the trip.

The important part is to read the fine print. Travel insurance doesn’t mean every inconvenience is automatically covered. Neither does paying with a travel-oriented credit card.

Know what you have before you need it, and if you’re shopping for a new policy, compare plans with trip delay coverage on Squaremouth so you can see exactly what each one pays out before you buy.

Read More: Why You Need International Travel Insurance When You Travel

9. Stay Kind to Frontline Staff But Keep Asking Questions

By hour 50 of a travel disaster, being cheerful may not come naturally.

Remember that the person behind the gate counter probably didn’t break the airplane, create the thunderstorm or decide that your suitcase should take an extended vacation in another airport.

They’re often trying to reorganize travel for hundreds of frustrated people at once. Being polite isn’t just decent. It’s practical. But being kind doesn’t mean being passive.

Ask clear questions:

• Can you rebook me on another flight?
• Is the airline providing a hotel?
• Am I eligible for a meal voucher?
• Can you tell me what caused the delay?
• When will I be able to access my checked luggage?
• Is there another routing that gets me home sooner?

A “we’re all dealing with this together” attitude can go a long way. Be the passenger who is easy to help while still advocating for what you need.

10. Eventually, You Have to Laugh

There was a point during this journey when the accumulating problems became almost comical.

A mechanical issue in Amsterdam? Fine. An extra night there? Okay. A delayed flight the next day? Of course. Diverted to Bangor, Maine instead of Newark? Why not? Sleeping on an airport cot without a blanket? Naturally.

Finally getting to Newark only to miss the last flight to Nashville because of another delay? At that point, what else was there to do but laugh?

Travel disruptions can be expensive, exhausting and genuinely stressful. You don’t have to pretend they’re fun.

But once you’ve done everything you reasonably can, found the next flight, secured whatever food and sleep you can get, saved your receipts and figured out where you’re going next, frustration doesn’t make the airplane leave any faster.

Eventually, the trip ends.

I finally made it onto that last flight to Nashville after roughly 80 hours of trying to get home from Amsterdam.

It wasn’t the journey I planned. But somewhere between an unexpected extra night in Europe, a cot in Maine and yet another missed connection in Newark, I ended up with a pretty good reminder of what travel really requires when everything goes wrong: prepare for the things you can, advocate for yourself when you need to and be willing to adapt when the itinerary you carefully planned disappears.

And pack a blanket.

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